iMac Memory Upgrade

Originally posted to RohJuh.com on Jul 2, 2005.

Prior to just a few months ago, the iMac line came standard with a paltry 256MB of RAM. With OS X having the voracious appetite for RAM that it does, this was laughable as 256MB simply isn’t enough to run OS X effectively. 512MB is really the minimum needed for OS X. Although my iMac came with 512MB, it still felt a little slower than I would like at times. I felt that a memory upgrade might help.

I probably only needed to get an additional 512MB (for a total of 1GB). However, the iMac only has two RAM slots, one of which is already taken with the RAM stick that comes with the unit. If I add 512MB now and later decide that I want or need more, then I’d have to throw away one of the 512MB sticks to replace it. So it’s better to err on the conservative side, especially since RAM is so cheap these days. I ended up getting a 1GB stick of PC3200 DDR RAM from NewEgg.com for an unbelievable $81.50! That brings my total RAM to a whopping 1.5GB!

Adding RAM to an iMac is fun because it is an excuse to open up the computer. Being the faithful Mac geek that I am, I documented the process with pictures. It is truly amazing the attention to detail that Apple puts into their products. The interior of the iMac looks better than the exterior of just about every PC I’ve ever seen. Now that’s saying something. Of course, it’s debatable whether this additional cost is really worth it, but Apple will be Apple and while this level of detail may be lost on most people, it certainly wasn’t on me.

After the installation, I definitely noticed a speed increase, but it wasn’t as much as I had hoped for. Similar to what is generally reported around the web, you can expect to see a dramatic performance improvement in upgrading from 256MB to 512MB, but beyond that, the performance improvements taper off. At any rate, my iMac is now running at its peak and should last me a good long time. Well, at least until the MacIntels come out. :-)

Here are the pics.